Frijoles Fire Update, 8/17, 12:26 pm
The closure of the SF2T route has now been confirmed.
The Santa Fe National Forest’s updated closure notice expressly lists Skyline Trail 251 and Winsor Trail 254 as closed within the Española Ranger District. Because both the standard SF2T route and alternate routes use the affected portions of these trails, a continuous hike of the SF2T is not currently possible.
The closure is scheduled to remain in effect until 8 a.m. on September 15, unless it is rescinded or amended earlier. Do not enter the closed area. I will post an update immediately if the closure changes.
Per documentation from the Forest Service this morning:
Frijoles Fire, Española Ranger District
Effective Immediately: The portion of the Pecos Wilderness managed by the Española Ranger District is closed to the public to protect your safety and allow firefighters and aviators to safely suppress the Frijoles wildfire.
Stay away from closed areas until further notice. Please follow all posted closure signs and directions from law enforcement and the National Guard.
Española Ranger District Closures
The following roads, trails and Campgrounds are closed:
- Roads: Forest Roads 306, 436, 440, and 441
- Campgrounds: Borrego Mesa Campground
- Trails & Trailheads:
- Aspen Ranch Trailhead and Borrego Trail #150
- Aspen Basin Trailhead
- Borrego Trailhead
- Dome Trail #151
- Rio Medio Trailhead and Rio Medio Trail #155
- Rio Molino Trailhead
- Rio Quemado Trailhead and Rio Quemado Trail #153
- Panchuela West Trail #243
- Skyline Trail #251
- Winsor Trail #254
- Rio En Medio Trail #163
- Rio Nambe Trail #160
- Frijoles Canyon Trail #154
Pecos-Las Vegas Ranger District Status
- Jack’s Creek and Panchuela Area: Jack’s Creek Campground, Group Campground,
and Equestrian Area, and Panchuela Campground and Trailhead remain closed due to
ongoing construction. - Pecos Wilderness Access: Access to the Pecos Wilderness from the Española Ranger
District is currently closed. However, the Pecos–Las Vegas Ranger District side of the
wilderness remains open. Visitors can still access the Pecos Wilderness up to the district
boundaries. The following trails on the Pecos–Las Vegas Ranger District remain open:- Holy Ghost Trailhead and Trail #283
- Winsor Creek Trail #254
- Cowles Trail #271
Important clarification: Winsor Creek Trail #254 remains open only on the Pecos–Las Vegas Ranger District side. The portion of Winsor Trail #254 within the Española Ranger District—including the portion used by the SF2T—is closed.
August 16 closure map:
New article from SF New Mexican, 8/17 12:15pm
Community meeting in Santa Fe tomorrow:
Want to get the 2026 SF2T enhanced GPX file for free?
- Take Leave No Trace’s free 101 online course. Takes 30 minutes to complete.
- Send us the PDF of your completion certificate. (contact@santafetotaos.org)
- We’ll send you a coupon code to get the GPX file for free. You’ll also get a tutorial for how to import it into major navigation apps.
Take the course, get the file.
Have a better experience and help the trail. 🙌
If you come to the Santa Fe to Taos Trail, please come as a steward.
We are not here just to pass through and take from this place, or any place. We are here to care for it, all of it: the lands and waters and wildlife, the communities connected to them, and the trail infrastructure that makes hikes possible.
Thru-hiking is not inherently extractive, but it can become extractive when hikers increase the wear and tear on all the things that make their journey possible without contributing to their care.
That is not said to make anyone feel bad or guilty. It is not necessarily to say, “don’t come here.”
It is said because hikers have responsibilities. We all do.
It is time for more hikers to shift from speeding through and checking trails off their lists to caring for the places, people, and systems that make their journeys possible. Many already do this.
The simplest way to make this shift is to start saying “thank you” more often.
Start saying it when and how you might not have before. Like to the ground you slept on, or the trees you hung your hammock from. To the breeze that cools you, and the sun that warms you. To the water sources that sustain you.
Just saying “thank you” changes the interaction. It changes us, too.
Great things come from small beginnings.
The Santa Fe to Taos Trail is undergoing a massive increase in traffic. We will see 10x as many hikers as last year – probably more hikers than do the Colorado Trail every year, and two to three times as many hikers as do the Continental Divide Trail every year.
The Santa Fe to Taos Trail goes from the Santa Fe Plaza to Taos Plaza over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico. It is 132 miles long, spans five counties – Santa Fe, San Miguel, Mora, Rio Arriba, and Taos – and crosses the Santa Fe National Forest, The Pecos Wilderness, and Carson National Forest. The full route has 35,000 feet of cumulative ascent and descent, as both plazas are at 7,000 feet elevation.
The route is over a decade in the making, scouted and refined by Pam Neely beginning around 2014, and then first completed as a thru-hike in 2018. It has been refined several times to optimize safety and access to water. It is still being refined and expanded.
Help us plan future SF2T merchandise
We’re exploring a few useful, easy-to-ship items for members, finishers, volunteers, and supporters. Tell us what you would actually use or buy.
Total registered hikers (as of June 19, 2026)
- 207 registered groups
- 404 registered people
- Average group size: 1.95 people
New Mexico hikers (June 19, 2026 data here and below)
- 65 groups
- 126 registered people
- 32.0% of groups
- 31.8% of people
Out-of-state U.S. hikers
- 138 groups
- 270 registered people
- 68.0% of groups
- 68.2% of people
Top states after New Mexico by groups
- Texas: 33 groups (16.3% of groups), 56 people (14.1% of people)
- Colorado: 30 groups (14.8% of groups), 54 people (13.6% of people)
- Arizona: 16 groups (7.9% of groups), 41 people (10.4% of people)
- California: 15 groups (7.4% of groups), 31 people (7.8% of people)
International hikers
- Australia: 4 people
- Mexico: 2 people
- Netherlands: 1 person
Elevation profile of the 2026 route of the Santa Fe to Taos Trail
Maps and route
See the route page and individual section pages for details on the route and turn-by-turn directions for the route. (6/22/26: Route page is old info and needs an update)
Presentation at the Los Alamos Mountaineers monthly meeting at the Los Alamos Nature Center Planetarium, Tuesday, October 28th
Huge thanks to the Mountaineers and the Nature Center for this opportunity.
Plaza to Plaza in 52 photographs
Each photograph is from one of the 50 subsections that make up the route.
